Antitrust review
Mededingingsautoriteiten beoordelen deal.
Antitrust review is wanneer regulators large mergers checken op marktconcentratie/monopoly-risk.
Regulators:
- US: FTC (Federal Trade Commission), DOJ (Department of Justice Antitrust Division)
- EU: European Commission
- UK: CMA (Competition and Markets Authority)
- China: SAMR
- Brazil: CADE
Process:
- Companies file (HSR Form in US, prior notification EU)
- Initial review (30 days typically)
- If concerns: Second Request (deep investigation, 12+ months)
- Decision: approve, conditional approval (divestitures), block
Voorbeelden blocked deals:
- Sprint-T-Mobile 2011: blocked
- AT&T-T-Mobile 2011: blocked
- AT&T-Time Warner 2018: approved after court fight
- Microsoft-Activision 2023: UK CMA tried to block, eventually approved
Voor M&A arbs:
Antitrust risk is largest source of deal-break. Funds spend enormous time analyzing antitrust angle.